Anyone else try online data erase?

**doctoss** · 06/09/2009, 01:08 PM

I thought I needed a hard reset to start over, and I remarked to my wife how clever it is to have an online hard reset to erase your data. So I proceeded to erase my data per the online palm profile; anyone else try this? Apparantly this is not a hard reset, but a security feature to brick your palm if it is lost or stolen. Now I have to make a trip back to the store to get my pre back instead of the brick I made it. Live and learn.

**drwillec** · 06/09/2009, 01:16 PM

I did a palm profile page data erase on Sunday. I did it because I have been plagued by widely fluctuating signal strength reported elsewhere. When the phone went to restart, it appeared to be locked up. After 15 min or so, I took out the battery, and the phone would not restart. I was pretty bummed out. While I was on hold with sprint support, I tried attaching the micro usb charger, and lo and behold: the phone restarted and has been fine ever since! However the widely fluctuating signal strenght problem (along with roaming and switches from evdo-1x) has persisted (and, in case you might be wondering - have never used hotmail - described elsewhere as a culprit).

**Tikerz** · 06/09/2009, 01:19 PM

I tried it and it worked fine. About a minute after I initiated it online, my phone blanked and restarted. The Palm logo was on the screen for about 15-20 minutes then the phone woke up to the language setup.

**doctoss** · 06/09/2009, 01:24 PM

Tried the usb charger trick, but to no avail.

**anon(45821)** · 06/09/2009, 01:25 PM

Originally Posted by doctoss

I thought I needed a hard reset to start over, and I remarked to my wife how clever it is to have an online hard reset to erase your data. So I proceeded to erase my data per the online palm profile; anyone else try this? Apparantly this is not a hard reset, but a security feature to brick your palm if it is lost or stolen. Now I have to make a trip back to the store to get my pre back instead of the brick I made it. Live and learn.

Guess you should've read this Precentral article posted yesterday
http://www.precentral.net/remote-era...lly-erases-too

**hchavarria** · 06/09/2009, 01:40 PM

I think bricking the device is a great idea. If I loose or my pre is stolen I don't want anyone trying to use it or give someone a freebie so bricking the phone remotley is a remarkable idea that way they can simply use the Pre as a paper holder.

**doctoss** · 06/09/2009, 01:44 PM

Originally Posted by hchavarria

I think bricking the device is a great idea. If I loose or my pre is stolen I don't want anyone trying to use it or give someone a freebie so bricking the phone remotley is a remarkable idea that way they can simply use the Pre as a paper holder.

I think so too, just wish it had a better warning to it. I am just glad I did not have alot of data or info on it yet. I am still using my 755p until I am convinced the pre is the way to go.

**crazytexan** · 06/09/2009, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by hchavarria

I think bricking the device is a great idea. If I loose or my pre is stolen I don't want anyone trying to use it or give someone a freebie so bricking the phone remotley is a remarkable idea that way they can simply use the Pre as a paper holder.

It's a great idea, but it should be easy for Palm/Sprint to unbrick it. Right now it sounds like a complicated procedure.

**brybry2** · 06/09/2009, 01:54 PM

I had to use it on sunday. It did brick the phone. I had to run webosdoctor and get it running again.

**titansluvpre** · 06/09/2009, 01:59 PM

Actually I did that remote erase on day 1....as the phone needed to be reseted at one point and time. I can tell you that the profile wipe DID NOT brick my phone. It just took a good half hour for the phone to come back "alive". Not sure if it was just pure luck but it worked, and yes I have my original PRE.

I had to go thru this whole procedure again later that nite when my line didnt activate on the phone....funny thing was I had perfect data connection but no voice for 6 hours. After some serious work with a tech, hack codes, and another reset...the phone did not brick...just took sometime to "wake up". Weird thing is that the reset did work...but during the main process again it did a back up restore of the apps I had added.

Not saying that anyone should try this though, it could have been pure luck.

**doctoss** · 06/09/2009, 02:09 PM

Hey, you guys were right. My phone restarted after a while, but it restored my backup. What if I want a reset without a backup?

**titansluvpre** · 06/09/2009, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by doctoss

Hey, you guys were right. My phone restarted after a while, but it restored my backup. What if I want a reset without a backup?

Thats the part I didnt get....I figured after a very lengthy wait and reset...that it completely wipes out your backup profile.

Guess it doesnt. But seems like there is no guarantee of how long to wait to tell if your phone bricked or not.

My wait could have been so long just for the fact it was launch day and you had some odd number of thousands of phones being activated.

**doctoss** · 06/09/2009, 02:27 PM

The reason I wanted to reset it is to go back and have my data backed up on line rather than on the phone. I figured I could then sync with google better.Any way to go back and change where the data is stored? Thanks

**Tikerz** · 06/09/2009, 03:45 PM

I don't believe this remote wipe is supposed to brick your phone. You do have to wait what might seem like a really long time though for the process to complete depending how much data and how many programs you have installed. During the process it restores all the programs you downloaded so that might take a while.

**jdrama418** · 07/24/2009, 02:13 PM

My pre has been displaying the Palm logo after the remote wipe for over 2.5 hours straight.

**jdrama418** · 07/24/2009, 02:24 PM

Just to keep the thread up to date, I got excited cause the palm logo went away. Turns out my battery was dead and it is currently charging. Looks like Im bricked....

:-(

**KJ78** · 07/24/2009, 02:43 PM

I had the same "false bricking" issue. Did the remote whipe and waited for a reboot that never seemed to come. I pulled the battery and either that, or plugging it in, worked. After syncing I'm back except I lost all my sms and call history.

**irateb** · 07/24/2009, 03:03 PM

Just to add my experience, that Palm remote wipe always brought my phone back to if I had just taken it out the box. I think the "not a complete wipe" issue may come if you input the same email address when you sign into the phone again. That will restore your contacts at the least, on top of a few other things that I can't remember off hand. If you use a new email address, that *should* give you a phone with no data on it. I always wanted at least my contacts so the remote wipe was good enough for me.

**jdrama418** · 07/24/2009, 04:03 PM

Ok more updates.

Got the phone to connect to the computer to run the webOS doctor tool. It initially stalled at 16% saying that my device's battery was charging. Went out on my lunch break, and returned an hour later to the same message and still at 16% complete. This is after having left it on the wall charger earlier for about 30 mins after the initial fake out. Anymore ideas or should I be heading into Sprint?

I just put the Zagg.com invisible shield on here too....

**irateb** · 07/24/2009, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by jdrama418

Ok more updates.

Got the phone to connect to the computer to run the webOS doctor tool. It initially stalled at 16% saying that my device's battery was charging. Went out on my lunch break, and returned an hour later to the same message and still at 16% complete. This is after having left it on the wall charger earlier for about 30 mins after the initial fake out. Anymore ideas or should I be heading into Sprint?

I just put the Zagg.com invisible shield on here too....

If you haven't already, try updating Java. Also look at this thread and see if any of the remedies in there help you. Good luck!

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